22  Hollow
by zosimos
Summary: Mashup: Prompt #22 of 50. Ed contemplates the changes in his brother.


It had started with a fight. They fought all the time, it wasn't any sort of new occurrence - and even these shouting matches, they happened with more and more frequency. Sometimes Ed wondered if Al used it as an excuse to go canoodle with his girlfriend, just by the sheer frequency.

He knew better, though. Al was not the sort to fight for the sake of fighting. They both worked together best when they weren't at odds, and any more it seemed that was all they ever were. Ed didn't know the extent of the damage, though, until Mei had called him, her voice cold and very calm, looking for Al.

Mei was very lethal, and Ed was used to her sharp and biting words directed toward him. But around Al she was warm and inviting, they seemed to be made for each other. Ed had never heard her like that - and then he realized it was because she was trying not to cry.

Ed had never once seen Mei cry. She wasn't the sort to showcase her emotions, and her voice was trembling on the phone.

He was going to _kill_ his brother.

...if he could find Al.

He wasn't sure what Al had done but Mei was badly upset by it. Their fight, his and Al's, had been over something so trivial as the handling of a particular case - although it was certainly egged on by the weight of everything going on. The looming end of the world - unless they could stop it, of course - put EVERYONE'S nerves on edge.

Ed didn't know what Al was going through. He couldn't, how could he? They both had their own particular breed of trauma to deal with. They were stronger when they were together, but those bonds were fragmenting, fraying apart and soon there would barely be anything left.

And honestly, some times, Ed didn't know if he wanted it to be fixed.

Now was not the time to be doubting in his family, though. Ed promised Mei he'd find Al and find out what was going on. There was little doubt he could be possessed - their tattoos and various charms kept them immune to involuntary possession - but Mei seemed to think he might have been. She wouldn't say why, of course - but she seemed almost positive that Al was not himself.

Ed sat on his bed in the dimming light of evening and stared at the phone as the display darkened. There was, of course, an alternate possibility. That Al had gone and done what seemed the most inevitable. That he had said yes to that monster, and that he was actually gone now, for good.

But if that were the case, why would he have gone to Mei? Why would he have left Mei alive?

The rough scrape of key in lock made Ed jolt physically and look up, as the motel room door was opened from the outside. Al stopped in the door, sunlight cut behind his figure and lighting the gold in his hair as he stared at his brother. He had a six-pack of beer under his arm and his duffel bag over his shoulder. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, Ed dumbfounded by Al's appearance and Al just silent.

Then he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry," Al said. "I've been such a jackass lately- why are you looking at me like that, Ed?"

Ed had stood up slowly, cell phone still in his hand. "Great," he said, his voice rough. "Have you talked to Mei lately?"

"No, why?" Al nearly dropped the beer he was carrying, but balanced it against the door. Even with the sun behind him Ed could see the concern in his eyes. "Did something happen to her?"

"You tell me."

"What?" Al came in the room properly, shutting the door with his hip. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Ed said. He moved with Al. "She seemed to have some pretty choice things to say about you, though."

The confusion on Al's face seemed pretty genuine - but his brother had always been the better actor. "What, why? Did I forget something important?" He frowned, picking up on Ed's tenseness. "Ed, what's going on?"

Ed was silent for a long moment, staring at his younger brother. At what point did Al become such a stranger? As the silence stretched, Al's cell phone rang and he hesitated, then answered it.

Al's face contorted oddly, and then he stared at Ed with a strange look in his eyes. "No, he's here, right here with me." He half-turned away from Ed, toward the bathroom, phone against his ear. "Are you sure? Where are you?" A pause, then - "Stay put. I'll call you in a minute." He hung up the phone and looked at Ed. "When did Mei call?"

"About a half an hour ago," Ed said. "Who was that?"

"Winry," Al said. He paused, stared at Ed. "She said that you just tried to kill her."

Ed felt nothing for a second, then rage ran through his blood faster than he thought possible. "Where is she?"

"Two states away," Al said. "Did Mei say what happened?"

"No, she wouldn't talk to me," Ed said. "I didn't try to-"

"I know," Al responded. "Something else did, and it was wearing your face. Probably the same thing happened to Mei." He paused and thought about it, and a look of pain crossed his face - the thought of what could have happened, maybe, or the idea of what Mei thought about him right now. "You call Mei, because I bet she won't pick up the phone if I call her. No. Call Mustang first, then call Mei."

"Mustang?" Ed said, surprised.

"These things are going after the people we love," Al said in an offhand way, already typing quickly into his smart phone. Ed was glad his attention was on the phone because he felt his ears heat at that notion. "Who are you calling?"

"Bobby," Al said, putting the phone to his ear. "He needs to be warned, too." He stared at Ed, who still hadn't moved. "Ed!"

"Right," Ed said, pressing Mustang's speed-dial. Maybe things weren't as bad as he feared...yet.


End file.
